Virus Sally Face AU
by Sock.Corgi
Summary: ((This is an AU, this does not follow the original story line of Sally Face.)) Sal Fisher lived in New Jersey with his father when the story of the first 'zombie' went around. Sal didn't believe it and when others panicked he went through life normally. But more stories popped up, Sal tried to tell himself it wasn't possible until he saw one. A school janitor, who must've hit his
1. Sick

[Sal refers to zombies as 'monsters' in his own head, just because he doesn't want to believe the world has turned into a comic book. ALSO! WARNING! There will be gore in every chapter, and suicidal thoughts in pretty much every one as well.]

Sal coughed, trying to muffle the sounds and be as silent as possible. It was dark and cold, the boy had no idea where he was anymore, he hadn't really known that in a while. He was alone, sick, and lost, which was terrible considering the state of the world. He wasn't sure if he was near any big cities, he didn't know if any big groupings of monsters were around, hell, he didn't even know if any one else was even left alive.

Ever since his group was attacked, it was like he was constantly moving. Someone, he didn't even know her name, got Sal away. They drove for a long time, with two other people. They were all young, Sal being the youngest. Getting spilt up with them was still a blur. There was a big group of the dead, they wanted to drive through it but Sal thought it was too risky, so he went and hid and convinced the others to do so as well. He must've fallen asleep, because when he woke up he was alone and all the monsters were distracted by something in the road. He got scared and just took off, into the woods, where he wandered for a while.

He didn't know if he felt sad, he didn't know what he felt at this point, he just knew he was scared. He didn't think he was scared of dying, he was scared of being eaten. He had felt what it was like to be torn up by an animal, knew what teeth felt like piercing skin, he didn't want to have to go through that again. He'd seen it happen, a lot, people kept screaming when it was happening, they felt it. He couldn't handle seeing the monsters, he'd always think of the dog, it made him panic, it made him useless. He froze up around the things, he could never fight back, he had to be rescued.

He missed his mom, he had no pictures of her, no videos, he could barely remember what she looked like. He missed his dad, he didn't know if he was alive or not, probably not. He even missed all the assholes from school, because at least when they were around everything was normal.

As he thought, he continued walking aimlessly through the forest, it seemed to go on forever. He tried to stay alert, listening mostly. He couldn't rely on his vision that much, since it wasn't that good.

His legs felt numb and cold, like they were frozen, yet his face felt like it was on fire. A fever. Sickness. That meant he was gonna die, he knew it. He didn't have any medicine, or shelter, or food for that matter, he didn't even have the proper clothing for the weather.

"Gotta look on the bright side, Sal." He spoke to himself, trying to pretend his words were coming from someone else. "It's probably better to die of sickness than being eaten alive, or starving, or getting an infection from a bi—"

The boy was cut off by a groan nearby and he stiffened, his eyes darting around but he only saw trees. There was another sound and he saw them, three of those monsters trudging toward Sal at a rather quick pace, they must've heard him. "Shit, shit, shit." He mumbled, trying to urge himself to move.

How had he not noticed them before? Oh, god, they were so close now. He was screaming at himself to run but his legs didn't listen, he could barely feel them, all he could focus on was the heat in his head.

Eventually he did move, turning and stumbling away from the undead creatures. His thoughts seemed to get almost blurry, he just had to get away, it didn't matter where he went.

The sounds of the creatures died down, Sal only seemed to hear his own footsteps now, not even the wind. He kept forward at a steady pace, scanning the area's he passed for some sort of building, camp, person, anything.

Then he fell. Something had caught his foot, wrapped around his ankle.

He screamed before he collided with the snowy ground, shit. That was bad. Screaming was basically suicide, every monster in the area would be on their way to the sound he had made. He needed to continue moving.

A thorny branch had caught itself on Sal's pant leg. Sal tried to yank his leg free but the curved thorns wouldn't budge from the fabric. Why did he have to have the worst luck.

As the boy reached down to free himself, he heard it again. The groans, the slow footsteps, they'd caught up with him. "Fuck off!" He yelled with a surge of fear, even if he knew they wouldn't. He grabbed the thorny branch with his hands, feeling the sharp plant embed itself in his skin as he yanked the branch and his leg at the same time, freeing himself.

Behind him were more bushes, he wouldn't be able to get through them, but he had to if we wanted to get away from the three monsters in front of him, unless he wanted to risk getting grabbed by them by running to the side. They were closer now, he had to go the opposite way, but he might trip again. He hadn't moved, despite being able to once again, he kept staring at the approaching danger, seemingly lost in thought yet totally aware of how he was just sitting there, almost inviting the monsters to come eat his guts.

If only he had a gun, he'd just shoot himself in the head. He'd be free, no need to worry others trying to stay alive. He wouldn't have to feel being eaten, he wouldn't come back as a monster and eat someone else, he'd just die, maybe there'd be an after life he could go to, who knows?

He forced himself to stop thinking like that, to realize that reality was happening still.

The nearest monster was right in front of Sal when he finally jumped up, so his plans of running were scrapped, instead he was just gonna keep these things from biting him.

The creature mindlessly grabbed at Sal, pushing all its weight on him in an attempt to reach his mouth to the boy's neck. Sal kept his hands pressed against it's shoulders, feeling it's rotting flesh sink under his nails, disgusting. The other two monsters were slower, maybe he could find a way to rid of this one before the other's got too close.

The monster had a surprising amount of strength for something dead, it managed to push Sal over and they both fell back in the thorns. Sal flinched, feeling the sting of many scratches.

The monster was so close now, this was the end for sure, Sal couldn't push it back forever, he should've run, now he's gonna die for sure. He yelped when his hand slipped, breaking the rotting ribs of the zombie and leaving only one hand to push it back, giving the thing an opportunity to lunge its head down.

Sal screamed, he was sure he was going to feel the thing bite his neck, that it didn't matter if he was loud anymore because he was surely dead, but instead he just heard a bang loud enough to drown out his noise, followed closely by a few more bangs. Gunshots.

Sal was confused, taking a moment before pushing the limp creature off of himself. Who had shot off the gun?

"Larry! You fucking idiot!" The voice came from his left, but before he could turn a figure was in front of him.

"Shut up, Travis!" Sal's eyes traveled up, taking in the look of the boy in front of him. He had long brown hair, pulled back messily, he assumed this was Larry. He wore a hoodie and jeans, like any other teenager, but there was also a bandana hanging around his neck that he'd pulled away from his mouth. He had a hatchet on his belt and a hand gun firmly in his grip. The newcomer crouched in front of Sal, looking worried and frustrated.

"Are you bit?"


	2. Camp

"Are you bit?" The other spoke, he looked unnecessarily worried for Sal. Why had he even bothered with helping Sal, he was a stranger and if he was bitten the other would have just wasted bullets and attracted the monsters. "I need you to tell me, dude."

"Oh, no! I'm not." Sal smiled, but realized the other couldn't see. He suddenly became overly aware of his appearance, his prosthetic broken and cracked, exposing scarred skin. He had lost his glass eye a while back, but it was luckily the eye that was still covered in shadow by the prosthetic, so the other probably couldn't tell. His hair was a mess, curly, overgrown and everywhere, with most down but some still pulled in one pitiful looking pigtail. His clothing was worn and old, he probably looked tired and sick as well.

Larry seemed to be focusing on Sal's ear, staring for a moment before reaching out and grabbing at it. "What's this?" He ran his thumb over a chunk missing from the top of the ear, an injury Sal had obtained with the rest, years before the story of the first monster.

"That's not a bite, well, I-it's... a dog did it, a long time ago." Sal was acting like an idiot, he was nervous, he probably looked so weak. "I-I'm Sal Fisher."

"Larry Johnson." The boy stood, reaching a hand down for Sal to grab, which he did: he was pulled to his feet rather quickly, stumbling to keep balance. It was then he noticed how much taller the other was, maybe Sal was just short, he couldn't really remember how he'd compared to others. Larry seemed to look him over, he probably didn't believe that Sal hadn't been bitten. "How old are you, Sal?"

"Um... I think I'm about 16 now... Who was that other person? T-Travis, was it? Where'd he go?" No one else was nearby, but multiple sets of footprints lay in the snow.

"Probably running to his dad, the fucking prick." The brunette rolled his eyes, looking more frustrated. It probably wasn't a good idea to stick around an unknown, frustrated teenager, but at least Sal knew he wasn't the one causing the frustration. "Don't say or do anything stupid, okay? Really, don't say anything unless they ask you, I'll talk to them. Okay?"

"Why?"

"What? Because they're strict and if—"

"No, like, why do you care?" Sal nervously looked up to make eye contact with the other, genuinely confused why the other even saved him in the first place.

"You're just a kid and you're alone. I'm just doing what's right." The taller boy shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing around before turning to walk the way he came. "Follow me, and try to make yourself look less insane."

Sal reached up and tugged his remaining hair tie out, letting all his hair fall down on his shoulders. He shook his head, making himself dizzy, before running his fingers through his hair like a brush. "I'm not a kid, you can't be that much older than me." As he pulled his hair back a coughing fit took over, he'd almost forgotten about his illness with all this 'excitement.' He had to stop, covering his mouth with his arm but doing little to muffle the noise.

Larry stopped and turned back towards the boy and, with a sigh, reached over to touch the bit of Sal's forehead that wasn't covered by the prosthetic. Sal couldn't help the blush that formed on his cheeks, thankful that the prosthetic should have covered most of it. "You're burning up, dude." He spoke flatly, looking Sal up and down again. The smaller had stopped coughing, but looked like he would start again in a second.

Larry grabbed the hair tie from the other, tightly pulling his blue hair back into a ponytail. "Use that to try and look pitiful. Though they might not want to take in someone sick..."

"But, like, why... Who says I wanna join your group at all?" Sal stepped away with a slightly defensive look, breaking off into another bout of coughing.

"Is this the girl you wasted ammo for?" Another voice sounded in the direction Larry had been bringing him, Sal looked up to see a tall blonde man next to a teenage boy. Maybe Sal was just unusually short.

Sal tried not to look scared as he made eye contact with the adult, his eyes seemed to burn into his own. This man was fucking scary. "I'm not a girl." Was all he mumbled out, his eyes shooting down to stare at his torn up shoes. He heard the man scoff somewhat.

"The fuck's that thing on your face? Take it off." The man stepped forward so he was right in front of Sal, why did he even have to deal with this dude, he could just walk off, right?

His eyes locked onto the large gun the man carried, slung onto his back. How many guns did this group have? Did they really need that many?

"I'd rather not, it's a prosthetic." He once again made eye contact with the man, bad idea, he looked ten times more annoyed, it was frightening. Sal looked over at Larry, briefly catching his eye. The other just made a motion, as if trying to say to just 'take the damn thing off.' "I don't really like people seeing." He mumbled this and he saw Larry sigh.

"Would you rather I just shoot you in the head, then? Because if you don't take the thing off, I'm gonna assume you're bit." The man crossed his arms as he spoke, a hand grabbing the strap of his gun.

Sal shook his head quickly, locking eyes with Larry one more time before reaching behind his head to the prosthetic's strap, which he was surprised even still worked as it was intended anymore. Larry seemed to understand Sal's look and averted his eyes, if the other didn't want him to see he'd respect that.

Sal slowly pulled the tattered piece of plastic down, revealing the scarred mess that was his face. He knew he looked disgusting, he had kept the prosthetic through all of this because he couldn't stop thinking he looked like one of the rotting monsters.

"Jesus!" The other, unknown teenager jumped back slightly at the sight, exclaiming as he did. This earned a stern look from the man and the boy immediately looked apologetic.

He blonde looked over Sal's face, crinkling his nose before stepping back with the wave of his hand. "Put the fucking thing back on." He turned away and walked back the way he came as Sal strapped his prosthetic back on with shaking hands. The man motioned for the blonde teen and Larry to follow him. Larry grabbed Sal's arm and pulled him along and Sal didn't feel like protesting.


	3. Nauseated

It felt like they'd walked forever through the snow, which started falling again soon after the group fell silent. Larry kept a grip on Sal's wrist, not in a way that made him seem like a prisoner but instead like the taller boy wanted to protect him. The two others were a few paces in front of them, just out of earshot if they were quiet.

"That's Travis and his dad, by the way. They're both asshats, I usually avoid them but Travis just had to follow me out today." Larry glared at the back of the two blonde's heads. Sal just coughed in response, not really sure what to say. Snow stuck to their hair and walking through it had made Sal's legs numb. "He acts like he's some kind of leader, even though all the adults vote on shit. When we get back I'll take you to my mom, she's nice and will give you something for your cold, we won't have to deal with them much longer." After he spoke he glanced down at the other with a smile.

Sal thought he was weird, not really in a bad way, just weird in the fact that he was acting like he was taking Sal home after school instead of having just rescued him from zombies in the middle of the apocalypse.

"It's cool you guys are all together, like," he was cut off by a cough. "With your families and stuff." He was shivering, god, he must look so weak and pathetic. Larry must have noticed he was cold because the other released his grip on Sal's wrist and instead but his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders, pulling them closer in an attempt to warm him in some way. It sort of worked, as Sal felt his ears and face heat up with a blush.

"What happened to your family, that is, if you don't mind me asking or whatever."

"Well, my mom died before everything happened. It was me, my dad, and my cat when the things started appearing. The cat, Gizmo, died when he clawed at one of the monsters and it attacked him. I think he wanted to protect me or something." He fiddled with his hands, picking at the hangnails. "I got split up with my dad in New Jersey, he's probably dead. Even if he isn't, I'm probably never gonna see him again." He glanced up at the other, who gave him the classic 'I'm sorry for your loss' sort of look.

The walked in silence for a while, the two they were following even further ahead because of how slow Sal was moving.

"I for sure thought I was dead. I probably should be dead, if I'm honest." Sal mumbled his words, glueing his eyes to the disturbed snow in front of him.

"No one should be dead, dude." Larry sped up slightly and Sal just shook his head, though the other wasn't looking, he was focused on the building now in front of them. It looked like a school, though smaller than ones he had seen previously. It was a brick building, with fencing surrounding the grounds. "This is where we stay, it's the old high school. It's pretty big so there's enough room for everyone and it's got good locks and all that safety shit."

Larry took his arm off the other and once again grabbed his wrist, pulling him along as he followed the two blondes through a door. They received a disapproving glare from the man when Larry pulled Sal in front of the others and down a dark hallway. It was lined with lockers and was surprisingly clean other than the dust that had built up. Everything was quiet, no one else was around but Sal could see evidence of people living here through the windows of the classrooms.

Larry turned suddenly, pulling Sal to one of the classrooms. Sal hadn't expected to turn, so he stumbled, almost falling over.

"Oh, sorry. You okay?" The taller boy paused in front of the door, letting go of the other's wrist. Sal only nodded, nervously pulling on his hair as he looked around. The place was warmer than he'd expected and even though he thought it was a little eerie, he felt safer than he had in a while. "Okay, so my mom should be in here, come on."

Sal followed Larry into the classroom, which didn't look like it belonged in a school at this point. Most things had been cleared out, there was a room divider in the corner, blocking a mattress off from the rest of the room. There was a table and wardrobe along the same wall and some more furniture was littered around. A woman sat at the table, facing away from the door, but turned when she heard the door open.

"Larry! Where were you, I've been so worri- oh, who's this?" The woman stood and rushed over to her son, not noticing Sal at first, who stood behind Larry. She looked similar to Larry, with long brown hair and light brown eyes.

"Mom, this is Sal, I... found him." Larry pushed the blue-haired boy in front of him, towards the woman. "He's sick."

As if on cue, Sal broke off into a bout of coughing and Larry's mother instantly looked worried. She turned away, towards a shelf scattered with items. "You still haven't answered where you were and what do you mean 'found' him?" The two teens sat at the table, Sal putting his head down tiredly and Larry nervously messing with his hands, trying to think of how to answer his mom.

"Well, I went out, but, I brought a gun and a hatchet, so I was safe—"

"It's not safe even with all those weapons, Larry! How many times do I have to tell you!" She turned around, looking angry, she now had a box full of varies first aid items and medicine. She walked over to the table, next to Sal, setting down the box before crossing her arms.

"No, but, if I wasn't out I wouldn't have heard Sal and I wouldn't have gotten there and shot the—"

"You shot a gun? What if there was a horde nearby, you would've attracted them all here!"

"Mom, the thing was on top of him it was the only thing I could do!"

"Wha- Was he bitten?" She switched her gaze to the younger teenager, Sal's head was on his arms and he wasn't paying any attention to the conversation. Larry reached over and touched the boy's shoulder and he shot up in his seat, rubbing his one exposed eye.

"Sorry, I- I'm just a bit tired." Sal pulled his hair out of the ponytail, nervously running his hands through it.

"Hey, Sal. I'm Lisa, were you bit at all, or scratched, or do you have any cuts or anything that were touched by the creature?" Lisa had a kind smile, she had a very motherly vibe that made Sal smile in return.

"No, nothing like that, I cut my hand but it's fine." He held out his hand that he'd grabbed the thorns with, the wounds weren't bleeding but dried blood was on his palm and fingers. Lisa grabbed some sort of wipe from the box, using it to clean Sal's hand.

"Um, I'm gonna need you to take off that mask... okay?" She wasn't sure why the boy was wearing the thing but she didn't want to seem rude. His expression turned nervous but he didn't protest, just slowly reached behind his head and unlatched the prosthetic, setting it down on the table in front of him. He let his hair fall in his face, thankful his bangs were overgrown.

His eye that was previously covered in shadow was half closed, he had once had a glass eye but had lost it a while back so he just had to live with one empty hole in his face. Most of his face was scar tissue and there was a cut on his lip that had been reopened and exposed teeth even when his mouth was closed. Lisa just smiled and Larry leaned forward slightly to get a closer look.

"Dude, your eye's, like, gone." Larry looked confused, as soon as he spoke Lisa changed to a shocked expression and was about to scold him when Sal laughed a little. Despite his wanting to cover his face and run away, he couldn't help but find humour in Larry's bewilderment, it felt really weird to laugh, it wasn't even a real laugh, really, more like some sort of snort. He hadn't done it in a while and he was sure he sounded really weird.

"Yeah, it is." He smiled at the brunette, it felt weird but right. He reached a hand up and pushed his eyelid up. "I lost my glass eye." Larry just smiled and sort of chuckled, the boy continued to stare at Sal's face. It wasn't like other people stared, it was different but Sal couldn't explain it.

Lisa put the back of her hand on Sal's cheek briefly. "You've got a fever for sure. What are your symptoms?"

"Well, my throat feels like I swallowed a cactus and I'm coughing and I'm sure I'd vomit if I had anything in my stomach." He leaned forward on the table, putting his head on his arms.

"When's the last time you ate anything?"

"Um... I don't remember, it's been a while."

"Oh, well then, Larry go get some food." The boy didn't need to be asked twice, he just nodded and left down the hall. "How long have you been alone?" Lisa looked more worried as she pulled some cough syrup out of the box.

"I haven't really kept track of the days. I got split up with some people at some point on a highway." He turned his head so he could see the women more easily, he felt drowsy and wanted nothing more than to sleep but he'd thought it safe to wait. Lisa just nodded at him, getting up to put the box away.

"You don't have any weapons or anything, do you? I'm going to have to speak with everyone to get them to let you stay, but first, they need to know you're not dangerous at all." Sal slowly lifted his head a little bit, thinking for a moment before reaching into his worn high tops and pulling out a small pocket knife, throwing it on the table.

"That's all I got."

The room was silent until Larry came back, he carried a simple meal, a sort of soup with vegetables and some kind of meat.

"I got there before one of the assholes told them you were here so they probably thought it was for me, they might not have let me take it back here if they thought I was giving it to someone," Larry whispered when he sat down again, not wanting Lisa to hear. He had a goofy grin on his face, laughing slightly at how quickly Sal ate.

"The last thing I ate was some stale crackers, let me enjoy this." He only received more laughs from the other in response. Sal finished quickly, already feeling better.

"Okay, Sal, take a cap full of this" Lisa pointed to the cough syrup. "And this ibuprofen, it'll make you feel tired so Larry will bring you to where he and some other boys sleep while I go talk to the rest of the group." Sal only nodded, doing as he was told. He didn't quite understand why this family was so nice to him, they didn't even grimace when they saw his face. He wasn't complaining, he liked it, he felt happy which was a big change as only a short while earlier he'd been out in the snow wishing he could shoot himself in the head. Now, as he was led down the hall once again, he couldn't help the smile that plastered itself on his face.


	4. Dust

It didn't take much convincing for the rest of the group to allow Sal to stay, most were generous people who saw more fault in kicking out a helpless sick kid, so he was allowed with the one rule that he couldn't wear his prosthetic inside. He would've been upset but his mind was confused with a fever. Sal had been in bed since he arrived, his illness only seeming to get worse.

Larry spent a lot of time with him, risking getting sick himself, but at least he wasn't outside. According to Lisa, Larry would just leave sometimes, it made everyone mad and worried, then when he returned he would act like it was nothing. He'd done that the day Sal was basically stuck in a fever dream and couldn't really properly wake up, the brunette had returned with a proper hairbrush and hair ties for Sal.

Sal wanted to be pissed at Larry for that, for going out for something so stupid, but he didn't have the energy. Either way, Travis' dad was pissed enough for the whole group, Sal had heard the man's yelling from bed and Larry later told him that he'd argued with Lisa and the rest of the group until he was allowed to pretty much lock Larry in for the next two weeks. As much as Larry hated the punishment, Sal was sort of relieved.

Larry was really the only one Sal had gotten to know in the group, besides Lisa. He had met some of the other teenagers there, pretty much only the other boys that shared the room with them, but he's never talked to them more than just boring small talk. Maybe it was the fever, or maybe it was the fact that Larry had saved him but Sal just felt really attached to the brunette, who seemed equally as attached to the blue-haired teen.

Sal was currently sat up in bed, a bin between his legs in which he used to puke up his guts into. Food didn't stay down, but that didn't stop Larry from feeding him, he couldn't even keep water in his body, it seemed. He felt light headed and small, he was sure his bones pressed out against his skin at this point to show his malnutrition. He was confident that he looked two steps away from death, as that's exactly how he felt.

He retched as the door opened, the sound of it squeaking being blotted out by Sal's body trying to force everything out of his stomach, though nothing was left to come up. A blood-shot, blue eye slowly rose to stare into worried brown ones. Larry held a bowl of stew, comprised of pretty much anything the group could scrounge together.

"I've already had my serving." Sal spoke up only when the brunette tried to hand him the bowl, gesturing with his eye down to the bin he clutched with pale hands. His voice was scratchy from the abuse the retching did to his throat.

"It's mine." Larry states simply, sitting down on the bed and crinkling his nose at the putrid smell of stomach acid. The bowl was placed into Sal's hands, Larry having to pull on one of his wrists to get him to stop clutching the bin.

"I'm not eating your food." Sal almost laughed, but the action caused a wave of nausea, making the teen shut his mouth and focus on his breathing. "Look at you." He eventually looked up again, poking at Larry's chest, the baggy t-shirt not doing much to hide how skinny he was. The bowl was placed on the edge of the bed, it wasn't filled much, they didn't have much to split up among the group, so there was no fear of it spilling.

"Look at you." The brunette's eyes flashed with irritation, but it was clouded with worry again soon. The shorter looked like purely skin and bone, he was pale, his eye tired and bloodshot, not to mention the very prominent bags under them. Chapped lips were almost always bleeding due to constant biting, his nails not doing much better, everything mixed with the scars across his face and body made him seem already dead and transformed into one of those things.

"Just a few bites, I'll eat the rest, you just need to eat something and keep it down." The bowl was in Larry's hands again quickly and he moved the bin to the floor with a somewhat grossed out look. "Eat!" pushing the bowl into his friend's hands, Larry stood, going to grab his bag where he kept all his, and now Sal's, things.

Sal didn't protest anymore, savouring the warm feeling of the stew on his damaged throat, thankfully able to eat a couple of spoonfuls without a bout of nausea. Larry returned with medicine, stronger stuff than what Sal had been taking before, and traded them for the bowl. The brunette didn't think twice before eating what remained and the shorter was still baffled he didn't think about himself catching this illness.

"It feels so cramped in here, don't ya think? I can't wait until you're better and I can take you out, there's a liquor store down the road that's still got a surprising stash, not to mention all the useable cigarettes under the counter. Most places ha—"

"I don't think you should be going out at all, it's dangerous, you could get hurt, it's not safe."

Larry just scoffed, suddenly irritated. "What the hell do you know?"

"Larry, I was out there for weeks! My group was attacked, my friends were eaten!" He regretted raising his voice, bringing a hand to cover his mouth as to not vomit but that didn't stop the look that shown brightly in his eye.

"But I know how to defend myself, unlike you! I can shoot a gun and swing a hatchet. I've got the strength to push a zombie off me if it gets too close!" Larry simply returned the look, crossing his arms like an upset child.

"Please don't call them that!" Sal's mood changed quickly and he suddenly looked fearful, which caused Larry's look to soften a bit. "This isn't some comic book, zombie sounds so stupid. Zombies aren't supposed to be real!" Larry shifted so he was sitting beside Sal, who didn't hesitate to lean against the brunette, the position helping to ward off any nausea.

They sat like that for a while, no words spoken between them, the only sound being Sal's occasional coughing and echos from other parts of the building. Sal felt it harder to keep his eyes open, his exhaustion catching up with him, but he really didn't want to sleep.

"You're gonna get sick, too." It was the first thing that came to mind, he wasn't even sure if he had said it as his head felt fuzzy.

"Nah, I don't get sick, I'm good."

"That's not how your body works, Lar."

"It's my body, it works however the fuck I want it to work." Larry let out a short laugh, seemingly at himself while Sal just sighed in response. The shorter teen shifted to be facing the brunette, basically ending up in the other's lap but his foggy mind didn't seem to comprehend that.

"I don't wanna get you sick." He placed his hands on the brunette's chest, messing with a few strands of his long hair which was currently down and messy.

"You won't." Larry didn't seem to mind the close proximity, resting his hands on the younger boy's waist, pulling him the slightest bit closer.

"What if I get you sick and then we both die? What if I die and turn and hurt you? What if I get better but you get sick and then you die and then you turn into a monster?"

"Then you shoot me in the head." The bluenette's eyes widened and he gripped onto the fabric of Larry's shirt, bunching it together in his clammy grip.

"I-I couldn't do that." His voice was much quieter now like if he spoke about the topic too loudly it'd all be real.

Larry moved a hand from Sal's waist to his cheek, running the pad of his thumb over the scars that littered his face. "I'll make sure you don't have to." He matched Sal's quiet tone, but he seemed much calmer and confident in his words. He brought their faces closer together, stopping before their noses bumped together. "Do you think you're gonna throw up again?"

"No..." Sal's reply was almost inaudible, he was too focused on staring into the brown eyes in front of him.

Before he could think, their lips were together and his eyes were closed. His stomach seemed to explode with butterflies and it was a good contrast to nausea he experienced earlier which seemed to be wiped completely away. The kiss was messy, both boys being inexperienced teens, but that did nothing to buffer the feeling it left them both with. A heat across their bodies that only intensified with each movement and touch.

But all good things must come to the end, and the universe decided the perfect way to end this was for a certain asshole blonde to swing open the door, angrily shouting about something.

The two boys jumped away from each other at the noise, turning to meet Travis' wide eyes. The blonde stammered, pointing between the two as he tried to understand exactly what he'd walked in on and seemingly just to make the awkward moment perfect, a wave of nausea came over Sal. He quickly jumped to the end of the bed, grabbing the bin and emptying his stomach once again.


	5. Sun

Larry was coughing and it made Sal wish he'd died all those years ago with his mom, but it also made him want to punch Larry and yell until his voice gave out. If the brunette had just listened and stayed away, or even just didn't share saliva with Sal, he wouldn't be getting sick.

He, of course, insisted that he was fine, that it was just a head cold, just a hair in his throat, just the dust in the air, just something he ate, just nothing. It was all bullshit, but Sal could just hope that it was some lesser illness or that Larry would be fine because he was healthier when he caught it than Sal.

Travis decided he would tell everyone what he'd seen. Most didn't care, Lisa was okay with it(with the condition that Larry just stayed away from Sal while he was still sick, which he didn't do.) Aaron, Travis' father, and a few others really seemed to mind. Even though the world was literally ending, they couldn't sway their beliefs about how unholy it was. Like god was honestly still there and caring about sins through all this mess.

Larry was given tons of chores that prevented him from seeing Sal during the day, so Travis was often the one left bringing Sal his food and medicine, much like today.

"I'm better now, Trav, I could've gotten it myself." The shorter teen yawned, stretching his arms above his head before grabbing the offered food, some canned fruit. He was, in fact, doing better, he didn't look so pale and had started to gain weight. He was also restless, but they wouldn't let him even walk around.

"Don't call me that, fag!" Travis was always rude, but he was also easily flustered, so it wasn't all that bad. "You're not allowed to leave bed until your fever's gone, you know this already."

"Oh, but I'm pretty sure it's gone! Like, seriously, come feel!" He leaned towards the blonde, who just sighed, pushing away Sal's blue bangs to feel his forehead.

"You seem too cheery to be alive." His words were muttered and Sal almost couldn't hear them. Travis' hand lingered on the other's face before he pulled away, awkwardly standing a few steps back.

"I'm trying to pretend the world hasn't gone to shit while I'm stuck in here, helps me to not panic." Sal stared at the blonde awkwardly messing with his baggy shirt. "Ya don't gotta be so awkward. Is it my face?" He'd almost forgotten about his lack of prosthetic, since he wasn't really around many people and everyone here acted like he was normal looking, save for people like Aaron.

"What? No!" Travis was blushing, like always and like always, he got louder. "I'm not being awkward, you're being awkward, queer!"

Sal just laughed, which made Travis blush more. The blonde huffed, sitting on the edge of the bed about a foot away from the younger teen.

"Why were you alone?" Sal actually jumped when Travis spoke, sure that he would have to start the conversation.

"Huh?"

"I said, why were you alone! Are you deaf as well as ugly?" Sal flinched at that, looking away but not before he saw what seemed like a regretful look on the blonde's face.

"No, just... didn't think you were the small talk type." He paused, running a hand through his tangled hair. "Everyone's dead, Trav. I kinda thought I was the only one left." He laughed as if it were a joke.

"Where are you from?" It was genuinely confusing to the blunette why Travis was even still there, he hadn't shown any intention of being nice before this.

"Jersey."

"That's far from here."

"Where exactly is 'here?' No one's told me."

"Nockfell, a real shithole town." Something about that name caused Sal to pause, he was sure he knew it, that he'd heard it before, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Nockfell. That sounds... familiar." He seemed to space off a little, trying to remember where he'd heard it before.

"That's weird, we're not really in the news. Like, ever. Nothing happens here."

"You grew up here, then?"

"Yeah. My dad is— was the pastor. Most people in here are local. A lot are people who used to live in Addison Apartments, like Larry and his mom." It was when Travis mentioned the apartments that it clicked, it was the apartments he'd heard his dad talk about for weeks before the outbreak.

"Oh! Oh my god, dude! I was gonna move here with my dad before all this happened! That's why it's familiar, we had planned to drive down when school ended..." Sal's excitement melted into sadness, the nostalgia just reminding him he'll never have that again. "We had all our stuff packed and everything."

"Why the hell would you want to move to a place like this?" He finally turned to look back at the blonde, who was staring at the door, pretty much glaring at it.

"A therapist suggested it, said moving to a small town would help both me and my dad." Travis turned to him, his eyes scanning over the younger teen's face with a softer look.

"What happened to your face?"

"I was an idiot kid." The blonde laughed at that, a short, dry laugh.

"Everyone was an idiot kid."

"I wanted to pet some rabid dog, got my mom killed and my face eaten." He hadn't even told Larry that, yet. But Larry hadn't really asked.

Travis didn't react how Sal expected, he didn't give him a look full of pity, he didn't put a hand on his shoulder like that was comfort. "Ah, that sucks. If it helps, I think you're an idiot teenager now."

"Why?"

"Larry's an ass."

"Funny."

"What?"

"He says the same thing about you. I'm tempted to take his side." He spoke in a teasing tone, rolling his eyes at the blonde's grumpy look.

"You're biased, he's your boyfriend." An accusatory look was on the blonde's face as he crossed his arms.

"Not really."

"So you just make out with your friends, then?" His blush increased as he spoke, which Sal chose to ignore.

"No, just... He hasn't asked me to, like, date or anything. It's not like we really could date with how things are, can't go out to dinner or watch a movie or get married or buy a house or adopt kids or live normally." His words weren't sad, they lacked emotion.

"You couldn't get married even if there were no zombies."

"Fuck that! I'll marry whoever the fuck I want! Who cares if the government approves or not."

Sal couldn't pin point the emotion on Travis' face when the conversation dwindled. The blonde stared off into space before seemingly snapping back into reality.

"My whole life I couldn't wait for the day I'd get to leave this town. I always wanted to run away." He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it from his face and further exposing a bruise Sal hadn't quite noticed before. "I guess I'm gonna die here now."

"Don't think like that."

"Everyone thinks like that. I was there, remember, I saw you just let that fucking creature almost bite your neck, you were gonna let it kill you."

"That's different, I was alone—"

"I'm alone here."

"You've got your dad."

"He's exactly who I wanted to get away from..." Again Travis was mumbling, almost inaudible as always.

"... Your dad's a jackass."

Travis' eyes flicked across the room, almost like he expected his father to appear in the corner with his signature scowl. "Yeah."

A silence fell between them, the comfortable kind that no one wanted to break. Sal was messing with his nails, picking at the splintered ends, not noticing Travis' gaze on him, or the slight smile on the blonde's face.

"Sal!" Larry appeared in the doorway with a bright smile, the door hitting the wall with a 'thud.' His face looked flushed, his forehead slightly damp like he'd been sweating, but his smile fell when he saw Travis, being replaced with a glare.

"Um, I gotta go. Bye Sally Face." Travis rushed out before he could get a reply, coughing suddenly as he shut the door.

Larry pulled Sal up to stand when he approached, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's waist. "Was he bothering you at all?"

"No, we were just talking." As he spoke, he brought his hand up to feel the brunette's temperature, the taller leaning into his cool touch. "I think you should spend a day resting."

Larry laughed, like it was some ridiculous prospect to stay in bed for a day. "I'm fine, how are you?"

Sal just sighed, resting his head on the brunette's shoulder. "'M better."


End file.
